At this point, it’s safe to say that a hefty percentage of Star Wars fans would be happy to call Andor the high point of the franchise’s Disney era. A spin-off to the similarly beloved Rogue One, the trials faced by titular thief Cassian Andor and his fellow reluctant subordinates have kept everyone hooked with just a fraction of the franchise’s usual special effects.
Indeed, stylizing itself as a political thriller, Andor has relied overwhelmingly on the fundamentals of television storytelling to make its mark on Star Wars. While the show’s dialogue undoubtedly pulls the most weight in that department, the close attention paid to theme is far from lost on audiences.
The theme of rebellion and just defiance, a common one in the Star Wars world, is mutated to spectacular proportions in Andor, brought to a yet-untapped forefront through the combination of depicting the Empire’s heinous rule in the pre-Rebellion days and focusing on a protagonist who simply doesn’t listen. In light of this, the folks over at r/StarWars have been gushing over a subtle detail that drives this ethos home in the most fitting way possible.
Every prisoner on Narkina 5 knows the drill when they’re directed to go “on program,” their feet flat on the floor, hands on their heads. Cassian’s half-hearted equivalent, in which he brings his hands just high enough to brush his ears with his fingertips, is the perfect example of lawful disobedience that most every non-Empire character has a bit of inside them.
Andor‘s first season is currently streaming on Disney Plus, with new episodes releasing every Wednesday until the season’s conclusion on Nov. 23.